


Synchronicity

by yahlalisa



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), K-pop
Genre: Alternate Universe, Australia, Band, Chaelisa - Freeform, F/F, LGBTQ Character of Color, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian, Music, South Korea - Freeform, Trainee AU, blackpink - Freeform, girl group, idol, jensoo, korean idol - Freeform, no yg, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:08:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26437714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yahlalisa/pseuds/yahlalisa
Summary: syn·chro·nic·i·ty/ˌsiNGkrəˈnisədē/noun1.the simultaneous occurrence of events which appear significantly related but have no discernible causal connection."I'm the first to admit that my life is at the mercy of synchronicity, but I'll be damned if meeting you was just random chance, Park."----Roseanne Park has luck in her corner.
Relationships: Jennie Kim/Kim Jisoo, Lalisa Manoban | Lisa/Park Chaeyoung | Rosé
Comments: 16
Kudos: 99





	1. Nosebleed

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Uhm so in case you didn’t know I refocused my blog on tumblr to BLACKPINK and am doing that here too. I also started a Wattpad where this story will also be up. My user is yaahlaalisa on there if you wanna check it over there. Usually it’ll be updated there first and then ported to here. As always I appreciate all comments and kudos! I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing this story. ;P

Many believe luck is a simple coincidence. There's no way to gauge your luck. It simply happens. The way the wind blows is where you'll be led, but it's your choice to follow the wind or brave the storm. Luck is not set in stone. You make your own luck. However, there are those among us that know it to be the opposite. You are born with luck. A game of chance is either in your favor or it isn't, it's as simple as that. Now, of course you choose your own path in life, but there will always be a light breeze pushing you away from the fork in the road. The pinpricks of ice cold air against your face in the darkest months is simply the universe telling you that it's there with you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always feel as if that familiar sting against your cheeks is a feeling of assurance but the familiar pang of warning. She could be a kind and gentle woman, but the universe was also known to be volatile and impulsive. For every good deed she had done, there was an equally dastardly one to oppose it. Although unfair at times, the world requires this balance, because without it, existence would be meaningless. There would be no adversity. There would be no triumph. The world wouldn't know hope nor despair. The world would be meaningless. Those who acknowledge this know that without balance in their own life, it wouldn't be much of a life at all, just a mere trudging through the Earth among the blank faces of the population.

Roseanne Park was beginning to feel as if the universe was finally providing her the balance she so desperately believed she needed. The wind had carried her away to a flier right in front of the tiny guitar shop she worked in.

_AmalgaMedia._

The name was brand new to Roseanne. AmalgaMedia? No bells of familiarity were sounded within her head. Her eyes flicked over the dusty pink paper, it was a fairly standard advertisement. Nothing was really out of the ordinary, seeing as musically inclined souls tend to frequent her sister's little guitar shop here in Melbourne, it wasn't rare for labels to scout talent in the area. Such adverts had never really caught the Australian's eyes before, but what grabbed Roseanne's focus was the bold white letters in the middle of the page.

**Korean Idol Training**

Roseanne has always been interested in the culture surrounding idols, not to mention that she was fluent in Korean thanks to her parents. She had always considered auditioning for labels in Korea, but Roseanne knew deep down she couldn't quite let go of Australia and its creative freedom. Now here's the perfect opportunity dropping right in front of her. A chance at a completely different world appearing right in front of her everyday life. She'd be a fool to pass that up. So quickly, Roseanne neatly folded the flier and stuffed it into her bag before locking up the shop. Roseanne couldn't remember the last time she got home with such infectious optimism.

The youngest Park gave her sister, Alice, a quick shout of "Yah! Alice I'm home!" and with that she flew up the stairs to take her life-altering leap of faith.

The door was quickly shut, leaving behind a light swish of air as it clicked into place. She tossed her bag onto her bed and fished out her ticket to the unknown. Provided on the flier was their website, and as Roseanne flung her laptop open and scanned the screen she was greeted with her ideal company.

AmalgaMedia was an Australian company, owned by an ex-idol herself, Bae Joohyun. She's taken the aspects of standard agencies in Korea and blended it with the more liberal western media. The rules were fairly loose, their main concern being trainee secrecy. Trainees were expected to keep their status a secret until reveal, and as such were forbidden from posting about their affiliation with AmalgaMedia or their training. Roseanne felt her lips spread into a grin when she read the regulations on their idol policies.

"AmalgaMedia does not have a dating ban set in place for idols or trainees, and has no intention of adopting one." She found herself reading the information aloud as she breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't that Roseanne was dating anyone, she's never had a relationship in her 18 years of life, but if she just so happens to fall into a relationship, she didn't want to be treated like property and told who she can and can't do.

"AmalgaMedia also has very loose policies on tattoos. Any piece larger than 76 millimeters must have company approval. Face tattoos and neck tattoos must also be approved if not already preexisting. We ask that trainees submit pictures of their tattoo(s) if they fall under any of the aforementioned criteria" Roseanne glanced at her left bicep where a single rose was etched into her skin. It was maybe 130mm so it seemed she'd be sending in a picture of it along with her audition.

As Roseanne's study of AmalgaMedia policies came to a close, the website linked a pdf that she presumed was an application form. It was a fairly standard form, asking for her contact information, if she had ever undergone any sort of formal idol training, medical history, it was all familiar to her. She found herself hesitate at the very first question; her name. She thought for a moment, and as her delicate fingers pressed the keys with confidence, she was shocked to see the name she had typed.

_Park Chaeyoung._

No one had called her that in years. She had been Roseanne long enough for scar tissue to form around Chaeyoung and hide her from the world. The name was foreign but she knew, as soon as the screen illuminated the letters, that it was time for Chaeyoung to redefine who she was. And she would do that with the name her parents gave her.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of questions, she only had one left. One that would change the course of her life drastically. A simple box to tick that would seal her fate.

_**Which is your preferred form of training?** _

_SoloGroup_

Chaeyoung didn't waste a second to check the box that read "group". It was a no brainer. Roseanne didn't think that there would be a chance, provided she was accepted, that she would make it all alone. All that was left was to provide a video showcasing her talents. She simply linked her cover of Eyes Closed by Halsey on her YouTube channel and sent in her application before she could second guess herself. This was it. This would either change her life for the better, or she'd be left to live in mediocrity, which is something Park Chaeyoung couldn't go on doing.

•••

Two months had passed. Two months of menial tasks at the shop, two months of endlessly refreshing her email, two months of asking Alice if she was absolutely positive there was nothing in the mail addressed to her. She was beginning to think the universe had just been playing a cruel joke on her.

"Jesus, Rosie. If you don't trust me maybe you can check the damn mail yourself." Alice gave her an exasperated look. It seems Roseanne had asked one too many times today.

"Besides what could be in the mail that's so important? It's not like you have friends or anything." The comment was met with a whiny _hey_ as the older girl stuck her tongue out from behind the counter. Roseanne scrunched her nose at her older sister.

Alice had always been so much more than an older sister to Roseanne. It had been just the two of them for about 5 years. Alice was freshly 18 and Chaeyoung an optimistic 13. Back then Alice has the privilege of just being Roseanne's big sister. The universe was known to be cruel and volatile, and the Parks were absolutely no exception.

It pained Roseanne to lie to Alice, but she didn't want to say anything too soon. If she wasn't accepted then not only would she be disappointing herself, she'd be disappointing Alice. Roseanne couldn't bear to disappoint Alice again. So, before her sister could prod any more, Roseanne races her way up the stairs and into her room.

Her eyes traced the corners of her room like she had never seen it before. It was perfect for recording, she had to admit. Her keyboard was nestled between a couple amps. Directly opposite were her guitars, both gifts. The acoustic guitar, her first instrument, was a gift from her parents on her 13th birthday. They had always been so supportive of her passion for music. She was lucky to have them while she did. The second one, the white electric guitar, was a gift from Alice after her 16th birthday. She had unpacked it at the shop and instantly fell in love with it. Whenever she had downtime, she'd plug it into an amp at the shop and play a few songs for the customers. Although she had admired it, she couldn't bring herself to buy it.

Acoustic foam lined the walls and door of her closet and her mic occupied the floor, she opted not to keep clothes in there, electing to remove the closet rod, so she could make the most of her space. The entirety of her wardrobe was neatly tucked into her drawers. Strewn throughout the room in a way that felt effortless (despite Roseanne and Alice struggling to get them right for 2 hours) were string lights dimly illuminating the room in a blue hue. She had read that once assigned a group at AmalgaMedia, trainees would be housed in dorms together to build team relationships. Roseanne was hoping she'd get put into a good group.

"YAH, PARK CHAEYOUNG!" Alice has a talent for shouting, even though Roseanne knew she was downstairs in the kitchen, Alice somehow managed to be loud enough for Roseanne to flinch at the sound. If she were being truthful, she didn't just flinch at the volume. Alice hadn't called her Chaeyoung since she was 13.

"GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE."

Roseanne groaned as she made her way back down the stairs, the soft carpet scratching against the fabric of her socks. The walk downstairs felt impossibly slow. Something important was about to happen and the universe wanted Chaeyoung to know. As she rounded the corner she saw Alice holding an envelope. Chaeyoung's eyes grew wide as she raced beside her sister to grab the letter. However, the older girl lifts the letter above her head, making it just out of Roseanne's grasp.

"Unnie..." Roseanne whined, trying to claw the letter from Alice's grip.

"Don't 'unnie' me, Rosie. Why didn't you tell me you were auditioning? I promise I wouldn't have teased you for long." Roseanne groaned. She hasn't even thought about Alice teasing her.

" _Aish_ , I'm sorry Alice. Just give it to me!" Chaeyoung made a leap of faith and, somehow was able to fish the envelope from Alice's paws. She wobbled backwards, wanting space to open a piece of paper that would determine the course of her life. She took a deep breath and held it as she broke the seal.

"Come on Rosie, what's it say? You got it right? Of course you got it!" Alice studied her sister's face, watching her eyes go wide and begin to water with tears. _Oh no._

"You know what, who needs them? AmalgaMedia? Who's that? We don't know her." Alice rushes to Chaeyoung's side and wraps her in a hug. This was a familiar place for them to be. Only this time, Roseanne is giggling like an idiot. Alice pulls back, looking at the girl with evident confusion. Chaeyoung was laughing and wiping her tears from her cheeks. These tears didn't sting. They were warm and comforting.

_She made it._

"Oh my God. YOU MADE IT! MY CHAENGIE MADE IT! MY LITTLE SISTER!" Alice enveloped her sister into another hug, this time squeezing every bit of congratulations and love she could into it. Alice could feel tears prickle the corners of her eyes as she clung to the younger girl.

_"Eomma and Appa would be so proud, Ro-Chaeyoung."_ Alice's words were so faint that Roseanne almost missed them. But they were there. Roseanne felt them at the very core of her being. Her parents would be proud of her.

"I just hope you have fun finding someone as great as me for a replacement, Jiyoung-ah." Roseanne grinned as she watched Alice realize that she would, in fact, need to replace her. Alice gave Roseanne's shoulder a slap, accompanied by a small whine of "No fair, Chaengie gets to follow her dreams while I have to hire a stranger!"

The rest of the night is spent with loving jokes, booming laughter, and good food. Roseanne's life was about to change, big time. Everything as she knew it would be different. She found her mind drifting back to a particular part of the letter the entire night. Over and over it replayed in her head.

**Congratulations, Chaeyoung! We greatly appreciate your submission and cannot wait to begin work with you. As soon as you get this letter, please contact us so we may sort out contracts and such.**

**We are very happy to tell you that we have an existing group that your vocals and personality are perfect for. They, as a group, have been training together for about 2 months. As such, they have had the time to form a bond as a group, and have been housed together for a month or so. You will have a lot of catching up to do, but we are more than confident that you are capable of such a task.**

•••

Chaeyoung didn't know how a week could go by so quickly and agonizingly slow at the same time. She had brought Alice along to every meeting she had, quickly she would reread the contracts after Roseanne was finished. From NDAs to waivers, Roseanne grew tired of seeing her own signature. Finally, Roseanne was ready to meet the group.

Before she would move into the dormitory, she'd meet the girls (3 she had come to find out) and see how they meshed. Joy, AmalgaMedia's Talent Relations supervisor, provided Chaeyoung with a small introduction to each of the girls, without headshots due to the Trainee Secrecy Policy, and she couldn't be more thankful. Apparently, the group's working title was _BLACKPINK_ , which had a nice ring to it, and there were three other members; Lalisa Manoban, she was Thai, her specialty was dance and rap, and was the same age as Chaeyoung, Jennie Kim, she was born in Korea but lived in New Zealand for a majority of her life, and she showed prowess in dance, vocals and rap, and finally there was Kim Jisoo, the oldest of the group who had strong vocal range, she was also from Korea, only moving to Melbourne two years ago. Chaeyoung was confident that she would get along great with these girls. She just knew it.

Her blind confidence, however, did virtually nothing to calm her nerves. She had gotten ready about an hour too early. Joy had told her that today would be dance practice so it was advantageous to dress out for that. Chaeyoung kept that in mind as she grabbed a pair of joggers and a loose crop top. Chaeyoung spent her free hour gripping her water bottle with ferocity.

"Poor thing, what did it do to deserve that abuse." Alice teased her as she collected her keys from the dish. It all hit Roseanne at once. This was happening. She'd be meeting her groupmates in less than an hour.

The car ride to AmalgaMedia Studios was filled with every nerve Chaeyoung could have. Her stomach turned in knots as Alice pulled into a parking space, and it only painfully tightened when she had opened the door and stepped on to the rough ground. The world stopped as she approached the building, hearing the faint crunch of gravel meaning Alice had pulled away. She took a deep breath as she opened the door and opened the reception desk.

"Hello, uh, Park Chaeyoung?" Roseanne's voice quivered as she spoke to the sweet looking woman sat behind the desk.

"Of course, welcome to AmalgaMedia, studio B7, floor 2." Roseanne gave her thanks as she approached the elevator. She stepped in, trying to gather herself. She could do this. Just as she was about to press the 2 button, a low voice called out to her.

"Hey, wait a minute! Hold it for me?" Chaeyoung's eyes shot up to see a girl with jet black cropped hair and bangs racing towards her. Her lips were full and curled up into a grin, her round eyes were the deepest brown Chaeyoung had ever seen. She dragged her eyes down her body to see the girl wearing a cropped shirt and shorts to match her hair color. Roseanne, startled, shoves her foot in front of the, now closing, elevator doors. The beautiful mystery girl's long legs stepped into the elevator and Chaeyoung couldn't help but trail her eyes up and down them.

The elevator doors were finally allowed to close, Chaeyoung's eyes tore themselves from the legs that went on forever and found themselves on the control panel. She leaned forward to press the button, but was caught off guard when the girl pushed the 2 instead. Chaeyoung had decided that this girl was impossibly attractive as she saw her hand, adorned with steel and silver bands, her fingers were long, veins were prominently displayed across the strong structure. This girl's hands alone must have been carved by the gods.

"I don't think I've seen you before." The girl spoke again, her deep voice displaying the faintest bit of an accent. Chaeyoung felt her cheeks flush.

"Oh! Yeah, I'm like, brand new. I'm Roseanne, by the way." Chaeyoung cringed at the general unease in her voice. She stole a peek at the girl next to her. Her lips broke into a smile. The girl simply nodded.

"I like your accent. It suits you." Roseanne simply muttered a _thanks_ and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Why was she so embarrassed? She felt so exposed. Like she was being watched with nefarious intentions.

"You're really pretty, Roseanne." The girl had, at some point, slipped a little closer to Chaeyoung. The girl spoke in a hushed whisper against her ear, the girl's breath tickling Chaeyoung's neck. Roseanne's eyes shot open in shock. Just as Chaeyoung had decided this would be the end of her, the elevator dinged and Roseanne made a mad dash for the doors.

Unfortunately, her dash was much faster than the doors, she had expected to go straight through. However, the universe had other plans. She crashed into the doors face first. Immediately Chaeyoung's hands shot up to her nose as she heard a throaty laugh escape from the other girl behind her.

"Yah! It's not funny, that really hurt!" Chaeyoung's voice was muffled as she held onto her throbbing nose. The girl behind her gently grabbed her elbow and guided her out of the elevator and into the hall.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. Here, let me see." Chaeyoung's heart practically melted when the girl's voice had suddenly become soft and careful. He hands wrapped around Roseanne's wrist gingerly and slowly began pulling them back. Chaeyoung winced as pain quickly made itself known, the familiar trickle of warm liquid and the taste of metal in the back of her throat made itself known. Roseanne watched as the girl's eyes became wide in concern.

Soon enough, the girl was once again dragging Chaeyoung to a new location. They had made their way down the hall, passing several doors containing dance studios, when they finally came across a bathroom. The girl held the door open for Chaeyoung and had her stand in front of the sinks.

The girl entered one of the stalls and quickly came back out with a roll of toilet paper in hand. Roseanne would have laughed if there hadn't been blood dripping down her chin.

"Hop on the sink." The girl's voice was still so gentle. Chaeyoung definitely didn't think her first day would start with her sitting in the sink having her wounds tended to. The girl handed Chaeyoung a wad of tissue and instructed her to carefully put it up her nostril and pinch her nose. Chaeyoung did just as the girl had said, and watched in confusion as the girl turned on the sink to her right and ran a bit of tissue under the water.

Roseanne sighed as the cool water touched her upper lip, the girl softly cupping her cheek as she washed away the blood that had stained Chaeyoung's face. The touch was soft and precise, from right under her nose to her chin. As soon as the girl had finished, she tapped the tip of Roseanne's nose.

"My instructor is going to kill me if I'm late again. Is it okay if I leave?" The girls eyes were apologetic and made Roseanne's heart race. She simply nodded. And with that, the girl was gone. Just as she was out of reach, Chaeyoung realized she hadn't even gotten her name. Roseanne cursed herself as she finished tending to her nose, which had stopped bleeding thankfully. But as the universe would have it, that wasn't the last she saw of the girl.

Roseanne navigated herself through the hall once again, finding studio B7 surprisingly quickly. She turned the doorknob and as soon as the door clicked open her eyes went wide and she was hit with the realization: she was a part of the girl's group. Realizing she was being rude, she quickly bowed and apologized for her tardiness.

Chaeyoung was met with a warm smile from a woman, who she presumed to be the instructor, and was signaled to join the group of the three other girls.

"Hi, I'm Sandra Park, I presume you're Park Chaeyoung?" The woman held out her hand for Roseanne to shake, and before she could even respond a familiar voice made itself known from behind her.

"No, she must be lost. That's Roseanne." Elevator girl spoke up and the girl next to her, about the same height but seemed at least twice her maturity, slapped her shoulder. Chaeyoung couldn't help but laugh.

"No, that's me. I'm Park Chaeyoung. I've just gone by Roseanne for so long it's odd to introduce myself as anything else." Sandra nodded as Chaeyoung focused on her group. The tallest of the bunch gave a slight wave, she sported a toothy grin, black knee high socks, black shorts, and a black long sleeve. Chaeyoung is beginning to feel glad she got the black memo.

"My name is Jisoo!" The girl, no Jisoo, beamed. Next to her was the girl who had smacked Elevator Girl. She gave Jisoo an encouraging thumbs up. Her eyebrows thick and neatly kept, she had mostly dark hair, but two sections in the front were bleach blonde. She also sported a cropped shirt and shorts in black, but a belt adorned her waist and white kneepads clung to her legs.

"I'm Jennie, nice to meet you, Chaeyoung." There was only one name and one person left. Elevator Girl. This was Lisa. She was the dancer. The girl who had called her pretty and made her heart race in the elevator was Lalisa Manoban.

"Yah, Lalisa." Chaeyoung covered her mouth as the words escaped her. Her voice was unusually deep, it honestly surprised her.

"Ah Park Chaeyoung!" Roseanne was even more shocked when Lisa's voice quickly boomed through the studio. Chaeyoung let out a breathy laugh and soon enough everyone had joined in. Chaeyoung has a good feeling about BLACKPINK.

Sandra quickly explained that dance practices for BLACKPINK were mostly group led (mainly by Lisa), and that she was mostly there to take notes and give her opinions on their choreography. Her groupmates walked her through the steps, showing her exactly where to stand and what to do. Chaeyoung genuinely surprised herself, she had never danced before. The moves mostly came naturally except for one.

Roseanne wasn't sure how a bodyroll works. She knows what it's supposed to look like, as she had studied the way Lisa's body had fluidly run through the motion countless times. Lisa made everything look so effortless. Chaeyoung's heart raced as Lisa caught her eyes in the mirror. They had gone through the choreography once again and there was no doubt in Chaeyoung's mind that Lisa had noticed how awkward and stiff her body seemed. Lisa approached Chaeyoung with eyes that seemed to burn through her skin. Chaeyoung chalked it up to the studio being warm, but even she knew that wasn't the cause of her pronounced blush.

Soon enough Lisa was behind her again, a reoccurring position of the day, she leaned into Chaeyoung's ear just like in the elevator, "You're very stiff loosen up." Chaeyoung gave her a nod and tried again. She was still too stiff. She knew it.

"No, no, like 'dis." Chaeyoung made a mental note of the way Lisa said 'this' but before she could tease, Lisa's strong hands were on her hips, her body pressed against her back, and slowly she guided Chaeyoung through a fluid motion. Chaeyoung thought that she was on fire. Every place that Lisa was touching felt like hot coals against her skin.

"Now you do it." Lisa stayed the way she was, hands on Chaeyoung's hips, pressed firmly against her.

"A-are you gonna move?"

"No. I need to feel the motion to make sure you get it completely right." Chaeyoung let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and she copied Lisa's movements from earlier. She could already feel herself let go and relax into the move.

"Better. Do it again." Lisa cooed, hot breath tickling Chaeyoung's skin once more. She could feel her heart race out of her chest at the words of praise from Lisa. She wanted to prove to herself that she could do it. Better yet, she wanted Lisa to know she could do it. Every little word of approval coming from the Thai's lips spurred Chaeyoung on to get better. Until finally Lisa's hands slipped from her waist and she stepped back.

"Good. Let's do it one more time." And from the very beginning, the group ran through their choreography without a bump in the road. The only noticeable difference was the lack of warmth against Chaeyoung's back.With that, practice had come to an end, and the girls exchanged numbers with Chaeyoung.

"Welcome to BLACKPINK!" Jisoo squeaked as she pulled Chaeyoung into a sweaty hug. The hug was shortly invaded by Jennie and Lisa who were eager to jump up and down into the embrace. As the four girls excitedly bounced together, Chaeyoung found herself looking at Lisa. Before she can even stop herself, her eyes flick down to the girls full lips. They looked soft to the touch and Chaeyoung wasn't going to deny the fact that she was compelled to press her own pair against Lisa's. How she managed to tear her eyes away from those lips, she wasn't sure, but when she looked back up her eyes met Lisa's and she knew she had been busted. Lisa simply winked, and as she spoke Chaeyoung decided Lisa Manoban would be the death of her.

"So, when do you move in, Rosie? I need to know when to expect my roomie."


	2. I Know You’re Here to Stay with Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Park Chaeyoung moves into the dorms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi there! I hope you all enjoy this second chapter! Any and all feedback is supper appreciated, as well as kudos ^-^

The answer to Lisa’s question had been 2 days later. Chaeyoung spent those two days packing the things in her room that she absolutely couldn’t bring herself to part with. By the time she was all done, the room wasn’t completely bare but it lacked the warmth Chaeyoung gave to it. Both of her guitars were nestled into their cases, her clothes stuffed into boxes, and her chargers and other chords were stuffed into a backpack slung over her shoulders.

This was it. Chaeyoung Roseanne Park would be leaving the only home she’s known all her life to embark on a long journey. She felt selfish. How could she leave Alice alone in this house? As soon as Chaeyoung stepped through that front door, her older sister would be living alone in a two story house. Only one of the four bedrooms would be used. Alice’s toothbrush would be alone in the cup on the porcelain sink. She’d have far too many towels now as well. Chaeyoung’s mind immediately leapt to the once white towel she had stained pink from hair dye and her lips quirked up into a smile and hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes. How could she be so selfish?

“Roseanne! You almost done in here? I just loaded all your shit into the car without any help.” Alice’s voice caused her to go stiff. Quickly she wiped her cheeks and turned to her sister, who was standing in her doorway, with a bright smile and small nod. And with that Chaeyoung and Alice were headed to the dorms she’d be staying in.

The car ride was mostly silent, the dull thumping of heavy drums from the radio providing white noise. Chaeyoung could feel Alice glance her way at every red light they hit. She assumed she was wearing her usual worried sister look.

“You know everything's gonna be fine, right?” Despite her encouraging words, Alice’s voice was shaky and uncertain. Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sister gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles. Alice pauses for a moment, thinking her next words through.

“You’re going to be fine, Chaeyoung”

“I know. It’s not me that I’m worried about, though.” Chaeyoung sighed before continuing her thought. She had to get it off her chest before they arrived at the dorm, or else she’d live with the guilt.

“I feel like I’m being selfish, unnie. I blindsided you with AmalgaMedia and now I’m leaving you.” Roseanne sniffled. How long had she been crying? And why was Alice giggling at her?

“You are selfish, Chaengie,” Chaeyoung looked at her sister, her face illuminated by the red light. Roseanne scrunched her nose and punched Alice’s shoulder, “—Aish, let me finish jeez! You  _ are _ selfish, Chaeyoung, but you deserve to be selfish after everything. Besides, living alone is going to be a blessing, I won’t have to deal with you singing at 3am on a Tuesday night.” 

Chaeyoung’s tears came to a halt as she softly smiled. The rest of the way to the dorm was in a warm silence, one that you could only have with someone you loved. Every now and then Alice or Chaeyoung would sing along with the quiet drums and laugh. Chaeyoung decided that Alice was undoubtedly correct:

_ I deserve to be selfish. _

•••

Chaeyoung had decided in the car that she had done all the crying she was willing to do for the day, which held up surprisingly well when the stark white building came into view. She wasn’t going to cry. She was strong. Tears were left unshed as Alice pulled into a parking space, and even as she exited the car.

Alice, however, wasn’t as good at holding it in. As soon as she and Chaeyoung has grabbed for her guitar cases, the older woman was a blubbering mess.

“Just promise me you’ll call!”

“I promise.”

“And that you’ll visit me when you can!”

“Of course.”

“And that I’ll still be your bestest friend in the universe.”

“Yah! Okay I get it! Can we please go upstairs so I can convince Lisa to help me?” Alice sniffled and gave Chaeyoung a short ok. The younger Park simply rolled her eyes and pulled her sister into a short hug.

Luckily, Chaeyoung knew exactly where to go thanks to Lisa. Yesterday morning she awoke to a text informing her that the room they’d be sharing was K11178 on floor 3. As the sisters approached the door, Chaeyoung silently cursed herself as she had to fish into her back pocket for her key card. During one of the many meetings before she was officially a member of BLACKPINK, she was provided with a card that would grant her access to the dorms. She pressed the card against the reader and pushed the door open as the light turned green.

Alice and Chaeyoung found their way to the elevator and piled in. Chaeyoung couldn’t help the blush that crept across her cheeks as she recalled the last time she was in an elevator. Her mind was consumed by a flash of short black hair and strong hands on her waist. Chaeyoung was ripped from her memory of the dancer as the elevator dinged. 

Room K11178 was down the hall to the right according to Lisa. The girls followed the directions and were shortly met with the metal plate drilled into the door where a seemingly random assortment of letters and numbers were etched into it for the rest of the plate’s life. Chaeyoung lightly tapped her knuckles against the white door that was separating her from her new life. Almost as if Lisa had been waiting at the door for her, it quickly swung open to reveal the subject of Chaeyoung’s thoughts.

“Rosie Posie!” Chaeyoung felt herself become surrounded by the warmth that she had associated the Thai girl with as her long arms wrapped around her neck. Chaeyoung noticed that every time Lisa would touch her she felt as if the world had stopped moving and it was just the two of them, the sweltering heat burning up and sucking the oxygen from Roseanne’s lungs. She just hoped that Lisa didn’t notice the way she felt so welcomed in the inferno of her embrace.

“Oh! Let me get ‘dat for you.” Lisa pulled away suddenly and motioned to take the guitar case from Chaeyoung’s hand. Suddenly feeling a chill in the air, Roseanne followed the dancer into the dorm and motioned for her sister to accompany her. The dorm was what Roseanne considered to be standard. It wasn’t large by any sense of the imagination, but it definitely wasn’t tiny. The Australian found herself struggling to find the correct word for her new home.  _ It was more…  _

__ “Cozy!” Chaeyoung excitedly blurted the word as it finally settled in her brain. It was cozy. The room definitely made the most of its space, two good sized beds were crammed into either corner on the left side, there was a singular large, white wardrobe opposite the beds, and there was extra space fit for a desk or bean bag chair. 

Chae was suddenly ripped from her fantasies of decorating the room as she heard her older sister start to giggle along with Lisa.

“—No way! She ate shit right on the elevator door?” Roseanne’s cheeks heated up noticeably as she heard the cackles from her sister. She has omitted the cause of the nosebleed specifically because she knew  _ this _ was inevitable. Instead of whining though, she elected for a pout as she tossed her backpack onto the empty bed.

“Okay jeez we get it, I’m clumsy, now will you two help me grab the rest of my stuff please?”

“There’s only two boxes, genius; your clothes and your bedspread,” Alice began, nestling herself in the doorway, “Lisa and I can go grab them, besides I want her to finish the story without you interrupting again.” Before Chaeyoung could even think of protest, Alice was making her way down the hall with Lisa in tow—not without giving Roseanne a wink, of course.

•••

Since Roseanne had very little belongings, it took no time to tuck her clothes into the wardrobe and settle the sheets and pillows onto her bed. As they had unpacked, Lisa explained that right next door was Jennie and Jisoo, since they were a group their rooms were connected by a door, which was right next to their bathroom door. Whoever designed that was a genius. 

“There were a couple slip ups here and there,” Lisa sat atop her bed as she spoke to Chaeyoung and Alice, who were fighting with the fitted sheets and loosing, “in fact Jennie’s walked into our room in a towel more than once, but Jisoo finally got the bright idea to just lock the door when we’re not hanging out.”

“And it never crossed your minds before?” Chaeyoung let out a victorious huff as the light blue sheet finally captured the corner of her mattress. She smiled warmly as Lisa just shook her head, quietly mumbling “before” in, what Chaeyoung assumed, was her best impression of her accent.

After a grueling battle with her bed set, the Parks had slaughtered the beast that was unpacking into the dorm. Alice quickly bid her goodbyes, saying “if I stay any longer I won’t leave” as she crushed Roseanne’s frame in a hug. She enveloped Lisa in a hug as well, thanking her for the help and for being so kind to her. 

“Oh, and make sure she doesn’t run into any more elevators, kay?” Chaeyoung groaned as her sister left the dorm with an evil fit of laughter and a careful click of the door. She knew she kept saying it, but this was truly the beginning of Chaeyoung’s new life here at AmalgaMedia, with her group,  _ with Lisa _ . 

“Oh! Hey, before we let Chu and Jennie know you’re settled, I kinda got you something.” As if she had known she had wandered into Roseanne’s mind yet again, Lisa scooped up a bag that Chaeyoung hadn’t noticed and slowly gave it to the new girl.

“I hope you like it, it’s kind of a ‘you’re stuck with me now’ gift.” Chaeyoung grinned as she took the bag from the strong hands she had met but two days ago. She didn’t have to do this. She hasn’t even been her roommate for a full day and she was already the best one Roseanne could ever ask for. 

Lisa burst into laughter as she watched Chaeyoung open the gift. From the bag, she fished out a stuffed animal, specifically, a chipmunk with a bright red nose that Roseanne recognized as the Disney character Dale. Lisa had gotten her a chipmunk with a red nose.

“Yah! Are you saying I look like a chipmunk?” Roseanne feigned sadness but hugged the soft toy nonetheless. Lisa wiped the corner of her eyes and inched off of her bed to crouch in front of Chaeyoung.

“It’s because you have fluffy, fluffy cheeks, Chaengie.” Lisa’s voice raised about 2 octaves as she playfully pinched the girl’s cheeks. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but laugh as the girl in front of her elected to tickle her once pinching the soft skin of Roseanne’s face. 

Chaeyoung fell backwards onto her newly made bed, hoping that would cease the attack from the Thai girl. Alas, it did not. Lisa simply used it to her advantage as she climbed atop Roseanne’s hips and continued to attack the girl beneath her. As the onslaught of giggles finally subsided Chaeyoung felt her breath catch in her throat.

Lisa was now leaning above her with a hand firmly placed next to her face to keep her balanced. The rise and fall of her chest was deep and slow, her lips slightly parted as she smiled down at Roseanne. Chaeyoung found her eyes darting from her lips to Lisa’s deep brown eyes to find them a sea of black, her pupils blown almost completely.

_ What is going on!? _

Chaeyoung’s mind was racing but she was pretty sure her heart was somehow faster. Everything felt impossibly slow and mind bogglingly quick as she watched the girl above her dart her tongue out and lick her lips. Chaeyoung knew she had to be impossibly red at this point. Her heartbeat violently thumped in her ears as Lisa’s face inched closer to hers until their lips were centimeters apart. Roseanne screwed her eyes shut, knowing what was going to come next. Her mind was buzzing, her lungs were burning as she held her breath in anticipation. But nothing came.

“I’ll let the unnies in.”

The warm breath against her lips and the husky tone of Lisa’s voice was enough to make Roseanne shiver. Once again, as Lisa pulled herself away from Chaeyoung’s body, she was hit with a sudden chill of cold air all around her. As she watched Lisa turn the lock and bang on the door with a shout of “come on in”, Chaeyoung tried to decide if she was going to love it here or if she’d be in living Hell.

And as Lisa looked over her shoulder and gave Chaeyoung a toothy grin, Roseanne had decided that if this was what Hell was, she’d be will to do a lot of sinning to stay there.


	3. Lie, Lie, it’s a Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the girls get to know each other

“Chaeyoung-ah!” Jisoo smiled brightly at the girl who was now significantly less red and standing upright to greet her other members. The air still felt cold against her cheeks, but Chaeyoung had begun to accept that anything compared to the flames that engulfed her when Lisa was touching her or, the searing embers that sizzled on her cool skin where Lisa’s fingertips pressed, was bound to always bring goosebumps to her skin and a chill throughout her entire being.

However. Roseanne was granted some reprieve to the cold as Jisoo, the oldest of the four girls at 20, pulled Chaeyoung into a tight and excited hug. Roseanne giggled and squeaked a small  _ hello _ into the girl’s shoulder. The hug was comforting and warm, almost like a hug that a mother would give their daughter. As soon as she was wrapped in Jisoo’s embrace Chaeyoung felt herself relax in a way; she hadn’t had a hug like this in a while.

Chaeyoung was thankful she had been placed into BLACKPINK, she didn’t think anywhere else would feel so natural to her. Nothing ever felt awkward, even as four sat on the floor of the dorms, Jennie settling behind Jisoo with her arms wrapped around her waist and chin balanced on her shoulder just the way a bottle of water had settled on that same shoulder not 10 minutes ago (Jisoo boasted about her balancing talent and went on to grab a few things and perfectly place them atop her head and shoulders). Lisa was quick to curl up next to Chaeyoung on her left.

Eventually, the four had decided it was time for Chaeyoung to become better acquainted with the group of girls. Chaeyoung came to realize that Jennie seemed to naturally guide the girls into subjects; she would throw ideas out into the air and wait for the girls to nod in agreement or continue in conversation.

“Why don’t we play a game? To get to know Chaeyoung?” Jennie’s voice filled the comfortable silence as she played with Jisoo’s hands. Chaeyoung smiled at the pair, making note that they acted like a long since married couple. Jennie often looked at Jisoo with the adoration of the world in her eyes, and Jisoo was always able to make Jennie laugh at the drop of a hat. 

“That’s a wonderful idea, Jendeukie.” Jennie rolled her eyes at the nickname with the tiniest hint of a smile on her lips. Chaeyoung decided she would have to ask one of them how long they had been dating.

The four, very obviously mature, girls had decided to play truth or dare, not without a twist, of course. Lisa had suggested that the girls all write down an ultimate dare and put it in a hat.

“So, basically, if you don’t want to do the dare, or the truth, you could skip, but you have to take a dare from the hat. No skipping the hat.” Lisa excitedly explained the rules as she gathered the necessary supplies, a tan bucket hat, a pad of paper where she seemed to have been writing notes in Thai, and 4 pens. She dropped the supplies into the center of their small circle, and took her space next to Roseanne right back. This time, though, she was a bit farther away, making a show of hiding her slip of paper from the Australian. Roseanne shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully.

In all honesty, Roseanne wasn’t sure what to put for her “ultimate dare” as Lisa put it. She mulled over many ideas, all sort of falling flat in her opinion. In almost no time, Jisoo, Jennie, and Lisa had placed their folded pieces of paper into the hat. Great, now everyone was waiting on Chaeyoung. Quickly, she scribbled down the very next thing that came to mind.

_ Buy Chaeyoung lunch >:) _

She snickered to herself as she folded the paper neatly; whoever pulled this owed her a meal. Chaeyoung couldn’t think of a better reward for herself.

“Chaeyoung, you’re the new girl, you should go first.” Jennie gave the younger girl a playful smirk. Chaeyoung just nodded, accepting her fate. So almost as soon as the question left Jennie’s tongue, Roseanne was already replying with “truth”. Jennie smirked again. Maybe truth was a bad answer.

“Okay, Lisa said she met you in the elevator before practice, what happened between you two that you were late?”

Roseanne’s eyes widened as she glanced at the girl next to her. Quickly things began to flash in her mind. The butterflies in her stomach as a girl with black hair ran to the elevator, the warm breath on her neck, feeling eyes being dragged down her body, and of course, the harsh thud of her face connecting with the doors. Roseanne chewed on her lip and tried her best to meet Jennie’s gaze as she figured out how to put the sequence of events into words.

“Uh...yeah, we met in the elevator! I honestly had forgotten that I put my name down as Chaeyoung, I’m so used to telling people I’m Roseanne, so that’s the name I gave her. Anyway, when we left the elevator I got a nosebleed and Lisa was kind enough to stay with me while I cleaned up.” 

Chaeyoung silently prayed that Jennie would believe her. It wasn’t a total lie, but a lie nonetheless. Jennie quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at her answer. Her attention settled onto the dancer next to her. Chaeyoung’s eyes darted to Lisa’s face. She was smiling slightly as she looked at Roseanne. Had she been looking at her the whole time?

“Is that true, Lisa?”

_ Shit _ . Chaeyoung was about to be caught in her lie. There’s no way Lisa would pass up an offer to make Chaeyoung blush. Once again, she braced herself for what was sure to come.

“That’s exactly right.”

And for the second time that night, Lisa had proved Chaeyoung completely wrong. Jennie simply sighed and took her eyes away for the younger girls. Chaeyoung stole another glance at Lisa, who still hadn’t taken her eyes off of her. Lisa, Chaeyoung decided, had the prettiest eyes she had ever seen. They were deep brown, like a rich brownie batter or a magnificent tree that had grown for years beyond Chaeyoung’s age. 

Chaeyoung felt that warmth again, except this time it was different. It wasn’t like heated coals pressed into her skin, or the sizzle of a burn against her lungs. No, this time it was just warm. Like being wrapped in a blanket in winter, or sitting by a campfire and feeling the flames warm your face even from so far away. This warmth was welcoming. Chaeyoung decided she would like to be warm all the time.

Sensing a change in Chaeyoung’s mind, Lisa scooted closer to her, gently grabbing the girl’s arm and wrapping herself in Chaeyoung. Roseanne didn’t resist for even a second as she prepared to ask Jennie the very same question she had been asked moments ago.

“Hmm, I guess I’ll go with truth, too.” 

Chaeyoung had the perfect question ready.

“How long have you and Jisoo-unnie been dating?”

She watched as Jennie’s head shot up from the older girl’s shoulder, her eyes wide and her cheeks dusted with pink.

_ Gotcha. _

“Me and Jisoo? We aren’t dating, what makes you think that?”

“I don’t know, you two act like such a married couple. I just assumed.” Chaeyoung shrugged. She wasn’t dumb; she knew there was something going on, but obviously Jennie wasn’t ready to admit it. Even if she hadn’t, the look on Jisoo’s face when Jennie distanced herself from her said it all. Her playful smile had turned into a small frown as she looked at the carpet beneath her.

Luckily, the matter was dropped and it was now Jisoo’s turn. She had picked dare, apparently feeling much braver than Chaeyoung and Jennie had. Jennie seemed to go back to her clingy self, resting her head on Jisoo once again.

“I dare you to order us pizza.” Jennie giggled as Jisoo complained about how boring the dare was. Chaeyoung and Lisa couldn’t help but laugh along.

“Lisa! How do you say it?  _ Mai mee tang ka. _ ” Jisoo said the last few words with uncertainty. It definitely wasn’t Korean, and if Lisa taught it to her, she was assuming it had to be Thai.

“Yah! Stop lying! Your mom is a doctor!” Jennie whined into Jisoo’s shoulder. Jisoo just rolled her eyes as she looked through her phone. Now that she thought about it, Chaeyoung wondered how a pizza guy was going to get into the building? He had to be let in, of course, but would the front desk just open the door for them?

“We have to let the front know ‘dat we’re ordering food,” it’s almost as if Lisa knew exactly what was on Chaeyoung’s mind at all times; she wasn’t sure if she liked it or not, “and they’ll buzz them in and you know how it goes from there.”

Chaeyoung only half listened as she heard Jisoo ordering the pizza, as long as it had normal toppings, she would be fine.

“Jisoo-unnie! Did you get it half Hawaiian for me?” Lisa was still wrapped in Roseanne, albeit much more loose and relaxed. Chaeyoung’s smile widened. Hawaiian pizza was arguably the best in her opinion, she just thinks people are afraid of actually liking it.

“Only because I love you. Seriously whoever eats that stuff isn’t right in the head.” Jisoo had barely hung up as Lisa had whined at her. Jennie scrunched her nose up at the idea of pineapple on pizza. 

“Okay, okay, can you just ask me the question? I want to keep playing!”

Jisoo didn’t even finish speaking before Lisa blurted out “truth” excitedly.

“What happened before you let us into your room?” Roseanne’s cheeks flushed at the thought of it. Lisa’s lips had been so close to hers not even an hour ago. She had never really felt anything like this before. Sure, she’s had a crush on a few girls in school, but she had never quite felt her breath hitch like it did whenever Lisa touched her. She had never gotten such aggressive butterflies in her stomach before. She definitely had never wanted to kiss someone so bad. 

“What do you mean what happened? She unpacked?” Lisa pretended to be oblivious. Lisa was many things, but good at hiding her smirk? That was not one of them. Jennie groaned.

“ _ You’re too stiff _ .” Jennie did her best impression of the dancer as her hands traveled to Jisoo’s hips as best she could in their seated position. Jisoo, almost instantly fans herself dramatically and gasped. Chaeyoung’s cheeks grew warm as she tucked her face into the first thing she could find: the crook of Lisa’s neck. She had forgotten that Jennie and Jisoo were even in the room with them when that happened. It had felt like it was just her and Lisa in their own little world where Chaeyoung, apparently, was much too stiff. She felt Lisa swallow roughly, now knowing there was only one thing left to do.

Lisa silently reached for the bucket hat, Chaeyoung removed her face from her neck and couldn’t help but notice the smug look on Jennie’s face. Two could play like that. Before she could really plot her revenge, her attention was taken by Lisa’s loud gasps as she read the paper.

“Come on, I can’t do this!” Roseanne couldn’t help the small frown on her face as she watched Lisa suddenly become nervous and unsure of herself. Chaeyoung had to resist every urge in her body to keep herself from laying a gentle kiss on the flushed cheeks of the younger girl. 

“What does it even say? I’m sure it can’t be that bad.” Lisa simply groaned at Chaeyoung’s words as she handed the slip over to her. Chaeyoung had to read the little note about 7 times for it to even process.

_ Kiss the person to your right. Minimum 10 seconds. _

__ Chaeyoung’s eyes shot up as soon as she read the name etched into the paper next to the dare. If a look could set someone on fire, Chaeyoung was trying her damn best to set Jennie aflame. The girl simply cackled as she caught the look on Roseanne’s face.

This wasn’t supposed to be how her first kiss went. It was supposed to be romantic and sweet. It wasn’t supposed to be some stupid dare. Don’t get her wrong, Chaeyoung wasn’t at all upset that it was Lisa who was supposed to kiss her, in fact butterflies fluttered in her chest at the thought.

She must have looked as panicked as she felt, because she felt herself pulled from her mind as a strong hand cradled her jaw, a long thumb delicately stroking her cheek. Lalisa Manoban. The girl from the elevator, her roommate, was only inches away from her face, her full lips slightly parted and her pupils blown.

“Is ‘dis okay?” if Chaeyoung wasn’t so close, she would have missed feeling the words form in the breath against her lips. Chaeyoung simply swallowed, screwed her eyes shut and gave a nod.

Maybe it was her mind being clouded by the girl in front of her, or maybe even just the excitement of joining the group, but Chaeyoung wanted this. She wanted Lisa to kiss her more than anything she had ever known. As always with Lisa, everything was so slow, Roseanne’s heart pounded in her ears like a thunderstorm, her breath hitched as she felt Lisa moving forward.

There it was.  _ Fire. _ All the previous burns felt like nothing compared to the flames brought by the kiss. As soon as Chaeyoung felt soft lips move gently against hers she decided this was what heaven was. Chaeyoung let her instincts take over, not wanting to overthink the searing heat against her skin. Gently, a delicate hand was placed softly onto a broad shoulder, the other resting on the dancer’s crossed leg. Roseanne prayed to whatever god would listen that Lisa felt the crackle of the sparks as she slowly moved her lips along with the dance of the flames.

Chaeyoung decided 10 seconds was far too short when Jisoo announced that they could stop there. She couldn’t help but crave to feel the embers against her skin once again as Lisa slowly pulled away. The girl was panting just the slightest but, her eyes closed as she tried to regain composure.

In that moment Park Chaeyoung decided two things, 1, that she was going to make sure to get Jennie Kim back for that dare, and 2, that Lalisa Manoban would kiss her like that again.


	4. Not a Lie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A tongue of flame can still burn, and once the fire is set you can’t take it back.

The rest of that night was spent with pizza (Lisa and Chaeyoung splitting the Hawaiian half), laughing, blushes, and of course, dares.

Chaeyoung had kept to her promise, too. As soon as it was her turn to dare Jennie to do something she felt a devilish smirk pull across her lips, still buzzing from the kiss.

“Jennie-unnie, I dare you to kiss Jisoo.” Lisa giggled and wrapped herself up in the Australian. Thankfully the kiss hadn’t interfered with the girls’ rapid fire bonding. Both Chaeyoung and Lisa whooped and whistled as Jisoo pulled Jennie into a slow, yet very obviously passionate kiss. It almost felt too private to be watching.

Not long after did the older members bid their farewells as they retreated into their room, taking the empty pizza box with them. Once they heard the lock of the door clicked, Lisa and Chaeyoung couldn’t help the fit of laughter that erupted between them.

_ Nothing going on my ass _ .

Lisa wiped at her eyes as her breathing regulated, finally calming herself down. Chaeyoung found herself just looking at the Thai girl. She soon found herself adoring every little thing about Lisa. The way her eyes smiled along with her lips, or when she would grab Chaeyoung’s wrist when she found something particularly funny, or how her bangs stayed in perfect condition even after laughing as hard as she did. Chaeyoung found her beautiful.

“Yah! Stop staring at me!”

“Sorry..” Chaeyoung felt a blush creep across her cheeks as she looked anywhere but the face of the girl that sets her aflame. She chewed the inside of her cheek as Lisa’s head rested on her shoulder. Her eyes went wide as she felt a hand slip into hers, lacing their fingers together firmly.

“You know you play with your fingers when you’re nervous?” Her voice was but a whisper, mumbled into her shoulder. Chaeyoung tried her absolute best not to stiffen up, but she knows she did. How could she not? Lisa, the beautiful flame that was delightfully pressed against her lips not moments ago, was holding her hand. Lisa held her hand like that had known each other for months. Chaeyoung couldn’t bring herself to care.

“Do I make you nervous?”

_ Do you make me nervous? God, Lisa. Of course you do. You make it hard to breathe. _

__ “Not at all.”

Lisa simply gave Chaeyoung a small chuckle as she lifted her head from her shoulder. The way that Lisa kept their hands together didn’t go unnoticed.

“You make me nervous, Chaeyoung.” Roseanne’s eyes widened at the confession. How could she make the girl next to her nervous? Lisa was irresistibly confident and charming; she didn’t think it was possible for the girl to be at all intimidated by anyone or thing.

“It makes me nervous how I want to be close to you all the time. It scares me how much I want to be honest with you and how bad I want you to be honest with me.” Chaeyoung watched in awe as the dancer suddenly became a timid doe who had been caught by a hiker with the sound of a twig snapping. Lisa chewed on her lip as she tried to form words in her head.

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry? I really like you, Rosie. I don’t want to ruin that with a kiss from a game of truth or dare.”

_ Oh. _

Chaeyoung supposed she should have seen that coming. They’ve known each other three days. Lisa wasn’t going to sit with her and tell her that she had feelings for Chaeyoung. Things didn’t work that way, Chaeyoung knew that. But she wished so badly that they did.

Roseanne wanted to pull Lisa into another searing kiss more than anything, to tell her it was okay. That she didn’t ruin anything. But that isn’t how things work. Chaeyoung was beginning to think that maybe dorm life would be a bit harder.

“Can we just forget this happened?”

A lump formed in her throat as she looked into a pair of brown eyes before her, filled with an unsaid apology and a vocalized plea. Why did that hurt so much? Forgetting the way Lisa’s lips felt against her was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to kiss her over and over. She wanted to be engulfed by the flames for the rest of her life, she didn’t care if it reduced her to ashes. But that wasn’t reality. Reality was cold as ice and cruel. Only the lucky few get to feel the fire against their cheeks.

“Forget what?” Chaeyoung gave the girl a smile, Lisa’s eyes immediately lighting up as she finally let go of Chaeyoung’s hand and tackled her with a strong hug. She couldn’t help but giggle as her back hit the carpet, scratching her skin in the most comforting uncomfortable way. Maybe forgetting the kiss would be for the best. If that meant Lisa would stay close to her, she’d be willing to forget almost anything.

•••

Four days came and went, the four girls becoming rapidly close with each other. They spent almost all of their free time with the door wide open, making fun of each other and laughing together. In this time they had been given a small group assignment, a simple cover of a song of their choice.

On the fourth day the trainees had decided that picking a song would be much harder than previously thought. The assignment was due by the end of the next week, which meant they had to not only rehearse the song itself, they had to organize a performance to go with it.

“For the last time, Lisa, we’re not doing a cover of fucking Baby Shark.” Jennie groaned from her spot on the floor. Jisoo, as considerate as always, had purchased 2 bean bag chairs, so whenever there were visitors they’d just have to drag them into the rooms. Currently, Jennie and Jisoo had the two seats (one black and one pink) pressed together as close as they could. Lisa and Chaeyoung were on their respective beds, Lisa opting to write down song ideas, crumple them up, and toss them at the unnies. The floor may as well have been white at this point.

“At least I’m making suggestions! It might be our best bet if you can’t think of something better.” That earned the dancer a glare from Jennie. Chaeyoung soon came to find out that Jennie’s face was very versatile. The girl could go from the softest eyes with a gentle smile to a scorching glare in seconds. 

Chaeyoung tried desperately to get any idea of what to perform. No way was her first assignment as a trainee going to be a cover of Baby Shark.

“We need something that fits our concept,” Jisoo said with certainty, her eyebrows furrowing and her lips turning to a small pout “the only problem is we don’t have one.” Jisoo had a point. The group had barely formed fully, they had a name and that was about it. BLACKPINK. Surely that was something for Chaeyoung to work with. 

Roseanne prides herself in her ability to read people, or at least peg their personality pretty well. She looked at each of the girls separately, trying to grasp any idea she could. Jennie had a certain quality to her that Chaeyoung could only describe as dominance. Jennie Kim’s very being demanded attention, the strands of bleached hair framed her face in a way that drew your eyes straight to her piercing gaze. Jennie was a leader, and anyone who doubted that would be sorry. 

Jisoo was fun loving and optimistic, everything about the oldest brought a smile to the girls’ faces. Jisoo had a talent for making up little songs off the top of her head. Even when she wasn’t being serious, Chaeyoung could tell Jisoo had a powerful voice. It very obviously settled in her chest naturally, having the most pleasant rasp present in it. Jisoo seemed to be the spirit of the team, if Jisoo wasn’t there the girls wouldn’t be as happy as they are now.

Lisa was much like Jisoo, she was always filled with joy, Chaeyoung couldn’t really think of a time where the girl wasn’t smiling. However, Lisa had another prevailing quality about her. Her eyes were always filled with wonder, her face always lit up whenever the other girls taught her a new phrase in Korean. The girl had an obvious passion for dance, so much so that the girl could learn choreography with just a simple watch of a performance. It never ceased to amaze Chaeyoung how Lisa could easily form together a dance without a second thought. Lisa, Chaeyoung had decided, was BLACKPINK’s creativity.

“I think we do have a concept..” Chaeyoung finally spoke up after she assessed her groupmates. The girls all turned their attention to Roseanne, a look of curiosity evident on each of their faces.

“I think our concept is, well, BLACKPINK.”

That sounded a lot better in her head. 

Jennie gave a chuckle at the girl’s “revelation”, her nose crinkling slightly as she laughed. Jisoo gave the girl a hefty push by the shoulders, nodding at Chaeyoung to continue.

“That came out wrong. What I meant was that our concept is us. We all have individual sounds and looks and personalities. I think our concept is how we can take the four elements of ourselves and come together as one.”

“That sounds great, but another slight issue here:” Jennie sighed as she tore herself from the beanbag and promptly flopped onto the sky blue comforter of Roseanne’s bed. “, what song are we doing? And what do you mean by four elements?”

“Yah, believe in Chaeng a little, I’m sure she has an idea for us.” Jisoo wiggled her way onto Roseanne’s, now unbelievably cramped, bed as she looked at the girl with confidence. Chaeyoung gave her unnie a quick nod in confirmation. Her eyes shot up as soon as she felt the air being ripped from her lungs when an exceptionally warm body dropped onto her own. The girl made of flames was staring at Chaeyoung on the overflowing bed with a pout on her full lips. Roseanne had decided that oxygen was overrated when you could have someone so adorable on top of you.

“Does that mean Baby Shark is out.” Lisa’s pout turned into a full frown when the 3 older girls began laughing at the comment.

“I’d rather blindly trust Rosie than do Baby Shark.” Jennie rolled her eyes, earning herself a light kick from Lisa, who promptly buried her face into the crook of Chaeyoung’s neck. Before she knew it, Roseanne was gently running her fingers through the short locks of black hair.

“How do you guys feel about DJ Snake?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! I really appreciate the support this is getting :) I finished this a little bit after I saw Light Up the Sky so you’ll see influences from that in this chapter and future chapters. All comments and kudos are appreciated with my whole heart!


	5. Blow a Kiss, Fire a Gun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls have decided on a song.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!! Thank you very much for your continued support, this chapter took a long time, mostly because I get sick very frequently lol. Thank you all for your patience.

The slowed beat rang in her ears as a sheen of sweat covered Chaeyoung’s body. The four girls, after taking Chaeyoung’s song request, had gotten straight to work; they had to make up for all the lost time. They cranked out the part distribution rather quickly, there really weren’t any complaints from a single member during the entire process. The choreography, however, had proved to be a problem.

Lisa had taken the lead on the dance, tentatively listening to the words of her unnies and the lyrics of the song to find a way to string things together. It didn’t go unnoticed to Chaeyoung the way Lisa stayed up into the early hours of the morning, her soft features illuminated by the dull screen of her phone as she replayed the song and took notes. By the time the girl was satisfied they only had about 2 days to rehearse. To top it off, their studio time had been booked for 8am the rest of the week.

Jisoo, Jennie, Chaeyoung and Lisa had always risen at the very last second, throwing on whatever workout clothes they could find. The outfits this Tuesday, 3 days before they were supposed to perform their project, consisted of Lisa in a pair of black track pants that she had struggled to find, a red flannel that was about 2 sizes to big for her completely unbuttoned, showing off the black sports bra and deliciously tanned skin that Chaeyoung couldn’t keep her eyes away from. Jennie simply wore a black long sleeve shirt and black leggings, what really set the outfit though, was a large pair of black sunglasses that covered her eyes completely. Before Lisa could tease her for it she held her hand in the face of the Thai and simply said, “Not a word, Manoban.”

Jisoo was definitely the brightest of the 4, opting for a large royal blue hoodie and the exact same pants as Lisa. Chaeyoung liked the way Lisa looked in them better. Roseanne had decided on a light pair of baggy jeans, a black crop top, and a matching black bucket hat. If she was being completely honest, it was the very first thing she had pulled from her side of the wardrobe, so Lisa’s words upon seeing her had been completely unexpected.

“Ah! Rosie you look so cute.” Lisa sat on Chaeyoung’s bed, a habit that had been developing over the course of their days in the dorm, her face spread in a wide grin as she kicked her feet back and forth on the edge.

The four entered the studio with not a second to spare, quickly signaling to the day’s supervisor, a woman who simply went by Ms. Kang, that they had arrived. The woman simply gave them a quick nod as she sat in the corner of the studio, carefully scribbling down notes. 

Soon enough, Lisa was guiding the girls through the choreography for the first time. The bass pounded in Chaeyoung’s ears as she watched the Thai girl gracefully move her body along to the booming percussion. Lisa had a way of making dancing look easy. She glided through the song with ease, her arms and legs switching from powerful gestures to delicate movements. She looked like a tongue of fire that danced through the air with expertise.

“Got it?” Lisa’s breath was slightly labored as her eyes focused on the girls watching her through the mirror. The three simply nodded as Lisa shook her head with a goofy grin.

“You all look like poor little deer caught in headlights. I’ll run you through the first section really slowly.” Chaeyoung sighed in relief. Thank God, she’d need to start with a slow pace if there were to be any hope of a good performance on Friday.

The loose clothing felt skin tight and uncomfortable on Chaeyoung as Lisa kept repeating the first section at various paces, insisting that she wouldn’t move on until it was perfect. Chaeyoung had become confident in her movements through the first part of the dance. The motions came easy to her, completely different from the first time she had danced. What was the same, however, was how she’d catch Lisa’s eyes in the mirror, or she’d just catch herself taking her eyes along the tight muscle of the young girl’s stomach, undoubtedly from the years of dance.

  
  


Chaeyoung took center for the first half of the first verse, making it a rather easy sequence to memorize. All she had to do was stand in the back of the formation and follow the opening steps, from there she’d approach the middle of the group, pause, and on the next beat step out of the formation through the gap between Jennie and Lisa. From there the four girls would form a line, Jisoo on one end and Lisa on the other. Jisoo would be facing the front, next to her was Jennie with her back to the mirror, Chaeyoung who mirrored Jisoo, and finally Lisa who was turned around just as Jennie was. As soon as the music curd for Jisoo’s part of the verse, Lisa motioned for Ms. Kang to pause the music.

“Okay, it starts to get slightly complicated here.” Lisa was still in formation, however now she was facing the mirror to look at the three girls behind her. Chaeyoung just hoped she didn’t notice the way her cheeks flushed a violent red when Lisa threw off her flannel. 

“So, me and Jennie are paired for this part,” she motions toward the unnie with her fingers, Jennie simply giving her a thumbs up, “okay, so cock your hip to the side like ‘dis.” Chaeyoung watched Jennie follow the motion with expertise. They really weren’t kidding when they said the girl could do it all.

“Good, good! Now we’re going to put our hands on our knees, and roll our hips out slowly.” Roseanne would have to be a fool not to watch Lisa, her eyes shot straight to the girls hips as the Thai girl slowly rolled them out and around. Roseanne decided being behind Lisa was a place she wouldn’t mind frequenting.

“No, you’re too stiff unnie.” Chaeyoung flinched when she heard the familiar words, and couldn’t help the pant of jealousy as she watched Lisa hold Jennie’s hips much like she had held hers. She forced herself to tear her eyes off of the pair when she saw the large blush adorned on the cheeks of her unnie. Chaeyoung’s eyes caught Jisoo’s in the mirror, who simply pouted like a kicked puppy.

“You okay, chipmunk?” 

Roseanne hadn’t even noticed the girl go back into position, much less did she notice the Thai girl wrap her arms around her waist, resting her chin on her shoulder with a playful smile on her lips.

_ Dirty trick, Manoban. _

__ The four girls had gotten the dance mostly down by the time their 3 hour studio time had concluded. Tomorrow, they would practice singing along with the choreography, which was bound to be harder. Chaeyoung had all but collapsed as they finished their last run through the song. Her silver hair stuck to her face, her bucket hat was long forgotten, and her body was sat on the studio floor against the wall. Lisa went over to talk to Ms. Kang as the older women had announced they’d be leaving to grab celebratory takeout for the girls. 

“Are there any free spots tonight?”

The words were so quiet Chaeyoung wasn’t sure if they were actually spoken. But sure enough, the usually loud and somewhat obnoxious Lalisa Manoban was stood in front of Ms. Kang with obvious nerves. Chaeyoung found it cute the way the girl stuffed her hands in her pockets and bounced on the balls of her feet. Ms. Kang raised an eyebrow at the trainee, looking through the various papers on her clipboard.

“We’ve got one spot, but it’s from 10 to midnight…”

“Perfect! I’ll take it!”

Ms. Kang just shook her head and scribbled something down.

“Thank you very much!” Lisa bowed to the woman in front of her, quickly turned around, and burst into a fit of giggles as her eyes settled on Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung was quick to shoot a glare at the Thai girl. Lisa sure had a talent for getting on her nerves.

“Yah! What’s so funny?” Lisa simply wiped the corner of her eye and sighed.

“What’s so funny? My little chipmunk looks like she got flattened, that’s what.” Lisa was quick to slip her phone out of her pocket, snapping a picture of the tired heap that was Chaeyoung at the moment. Roseanne sprang to her feet, grabbing her hat and Lisa’s flannel on her way up, and began slapping the girl’s shoulders. Lisa didn’t seem phased though, as she just continued to laugh as she dragged the girl out of the dance studio. 

**•••**

The rest of the day was started with Rock Paper Scissors for the first shower, which Chaeyoung promptly lost. She pouted as Lisa danced around the small room in victory. As soon as she heard the bathroom door close, Chaeyoung flopped onto her soft bed and took Dale into her arms. Her thoughts traveled back to earlier, specifically the way Lisa looked when she danced. The girl had such a passion for it, that much was evident, but Chaeyoung could see something greater. In Chaeyoung’s eyes, it wasn’t just the act of dance or the aesthetics of it, no; to Chaeyoung, Lisa was immensely passionate about entertainment in general. She had a way of making people smile and want to dance with her. She adored that about the girl. What she didn’t completely adore, was Lisa’s incessant teasing.

“Why is she so mean to me, Dale? Why do I feel like… All warm and embarrassed around her? Ugh! It doesn’t make any sense.” Chaeyoung held the chipmunk up in the air to look her in the eyes, looking at it expecting an answer. No such luck. Well, at least not with Dale.

“What doesn’t make any sense?” Roseanne yelped when she heard the voice of the girl she was just talking about. She searched her brain for a quick lie, but came up short when she saw what Lisa was wearing.

Lisa had on a very large black hoodie and, Chaeyoung hoped, shorts underneath, opting to wear her round glasses as well. Most importantly, that was Chaeyoung’s hoodie, she knew it from the bleached bits around the hood and collar. She wasn’t exactly the most careful when she dyed her hair. Chaeyoung usually would have been mad and demanded that she took it off, but Lisa looked good in her hoodie. Like,  _ really _ good. The fabric basically swallowed her whole, making the girl look absolutely adorable. Chaeyoung felt her heart squeeze as she looked at Lisa.

“What?” Lisa raised her arms in confusion. Her fingertips just barely peeking out of the sleeves. She was impossibly cute.

“That’s my hoodie.”

“What? It was on my side! My property!”

“That’s not how it works, Lalisa.” Chaeyoung wasn’t exactly sure why, but something in her urged her to tease the girl further. So, Roseanne heaved herself off the bed and approached her roommate, who was pouting up at her.

“What do you mean!? You wore my hat today!” 

_ Shit _ .

Now that Lisa mentioned it, Chaeyoung had realized she didn’t own a bucket hat. Uncharacteristically, Chaeyoung simply shrugged off the girl.

“I didn’t say it was mine, I just wanted to wear it. Besides, you didn’t seem to mind all that much.”

“And you mind that I’m wearing your hoodie?”

“I was going to wear it.”

_ Nice lie, Rosie! _

“Well, it’s too late now!” Lisa stuck her tongue out at Chaeyoung, who gave the girl a simple smirk. Chaeyoung didn’t know who she should thank for all this sudden confidence, but she owed them big. Slowly, Roseanne inched towards Lisa, much like she did in the first section of their dance, until their bodies were all but flush together. Chaeyoung took a moment to look at the girl in front of her, the way that a light blush dusted her cheeks, she took in the satisfaction of watching the eyes spun from gold dilate until they were mostly black, she watched as lips parted ever so slightly, and she raked her eyes down her throat as Lisa swallowed her nerve. Chaeyoung’s fingers teased the hem of her hoodie as her words and warm breath teased Lisa’s cheeks.

“Take it off or I will.”

__ Chaeyoung decided she would need to be more confident in herself solely for the look on Lisa’s face. Her eyes went impossibly wide and her cheeks flushed more, if that was even possible. To top it all off, she let out the tiniest little gasp, almost completely inaudible, but just loud enough to spurr Chaeyoung on.

“J-jokes on you, Chaeng! I’m not taking this off for anything! You’re just mad that I look better in it than you!” Lisa, slowly but surely, gathered more confidence as she stumbled through the sentence. She was right about one thing, she did look better than Chaeyoung in the hoodie, but Chaeyoung was anything but mad about it.

“Like I said, if you won’t take it off, I’ll do it for you.”

“Go ahead! I’m not wearing anything underneath it!” 

That got Chaeyoung’s attention. She had to be bluffing. Was she really not wearing anything underneath? Did she seriously only put on Chaeyoung’s hoodie? Nothing else? The very thought made Chaeyoung’s stomach drop. It wasn’t in disgust, no, far from it. Although Chaeyoung didn’t quite know what  _ it _ was. All she knew was that Lisa Manoban was standing not an inch away from her with a shit-eating grin on her face. She was challenging her, and this was not a challenge she would be backing down from.

“I tried to warn you.”

At that, Chaeyoung’s fingers curled around the hem of her hoodie. Her eyes never left Lisa’s, only quirking an eyebrow to ask her if it was okay. Lisa gave her a shaky smirk in reply, and Chaeyoung took that as her go ahead. Ever so slowly, the hoodie was dragged up strong thighs and delicate hips, eventually revealing that Lisa was, in fact, wearing shorts. Roseanne continued her mission, the fabric beginning to bunch up as more of Lisa was revealed. More of Lisa’s skin to be exact. 

Chaeyoung’s breath caught in her throat when the hoodie was completely over Lisa’s shorts, the girl's bare stomach now on complete display. Chaeyoung bit her lip at the thought that Lisa may have been telling the truth. What if she pulled the hoodie all the way up and she was completely bare? Chaeyoung decided she would simply pass away.

“What, you losing your nerve, Park?”

There it was, the usual cocky attitude that Roseanne had associated with Lisa. Her smirk was back, and as was her confidence. She thought Chaeyoung was going to give up. The very idea of failure washed away all the nervousness she had.

“Far from it, Manoban.” 

Lisa gasped again, this time slightly louder, when Roseanne had slowly raked her nails down her abdomen with one of her hands. Chaeyoung felt a rush of victory as Lisa shivered under her touch. With one hand, the hoodie continued its journey up, and with the other, Chaeyoung traced the lines of muscle on Lisa’s skin.

Soon enough, the hoodie was pushed up right below Lisa’s chest. Chaeyoung paused for a moment, causing Lisa to surge her head forward and rest it on Chaeyoung’s shoulder. Roseanne simply chuckled as the hand that was teasing Lisa’s flesh slowly slid up to where the fabric was bunched. Chaeyoung could feel how scorching hot Lisa was, the burning sensation never failing to excite her. It only doubled, however, when a single finger slipped underneath the fabric and traced a line along an elastic band. It was another sports bra. Chaeyoung smirked and turned her head ever so slightly so her mouth was just above Lisa’s ear.

“You lied.”

And finally, Chaeyoung had stepped back and quickly pulled the garment up over Lisa’s head. There Lisa stood, half-naked and panting like she ran a marathon. Chaeyoung giggled at the girl in front of her, taking a moment to laugh before she threw the hood back at Lisa.

“You can put it back on. You shoulda seen your-“

Roseanne’s words were cut off by Lisa throwing the hoodie to the side and pouncing on her. Roseanne had been genuinely surprised by the action, causing her to stumble back onto her bed. She sat up, about to complain that Lisa was being obnoxious already, but she was quickly silenced when Lisa perched herself in her lap and forcefully joined their lips together.

Chaeyoung didn’t need to be told to kiss the girl back. Flames engulfed her once again as she slipped her arms around her waist. Lisa, however, was already ahead of her as she looped her arms around Chaeyoung’s neck, hungrily attacking her lips. This was nothing like the first kiss they had shared. The first kiss had been soft and gentle, and this was anything but. It was a kiss that Chaeyoung had never experienced before, and it was something she was beginning to get high off of.

So high, that when Lisa gently bit down on her lip, Chaeyoung let out a whimper that she had never heard before. Lisa pulled away from her at that moment, chest heaving and eyes thick with something Chaeyoung couldn’t quite place. Had she ruined the moment? Was the sound annoying? Was Chaeyoung bad at this? All those thoughts washed away when Lisa reattached their lips with more fire than the Sun.

Chaeyoung was being burnt to a crisp, not even minutes after she had had such an effect on Lisa. She did like Lisa in control, Chaeyoung also liked catching her off guard. Thinking back to the hoodie, Chaeyoung suddenly knew what to do. She kissed Lisa back with the same urgency and fire, and slowly began running her hands up and down Lisa’s sides.

Lisa’s skin was soft and burning hot, and Roseanne found herself wanting to touch more and more of it. As soon as she felt the moment was right, she raked her nails against her abs once more, her other hand squeezing the girl's thighs. Almost instantly, the kiss broke as Lisa tipped her head back and groaned. Hearing that, Chaeyoung decided that Lisa Manoban was her new addiction. And apparently, her addiction was just as eager to get to know her.

Lisa threaded her hands in silver locks, keeping Chaeyoung in place as she crashed their lips together once more, poking out her tongue to graze upon Chaeyoung’s lips. She definitely didn’t need to be told twice. Roseanne’s lips parted and without a second to lose, Lisa roughly shoved her tongue into her mouth.

Being with Lisa was good, holding Lisa was great, kissing Lisa was amazing, but making out with Lisa? It was ethereal. Everything was on fire. Flames glided along the skin that touched Lisa’s. Stars were exploding behind her eyelids as Lisa melded their tongues together in a dance of sparks and ember. She never wanted to stop. She needed more of the fire, more of  _ Lisa. _

“Chaeyoung-ah! Lisa-yah! We—oh shit.”

Lisa quickly broke the kiss as she looked at Jisoo and the open door. They had forgotten to lock it before they left for rehearsal. Jisoo looked at the pair with utter horror, quickly covering her eyes as Lisa scrambled for Chaeyoung’s hoodie. Roseanne simply stayed in her seat, holding her head in her hands.

This was going to be a bitch and a half to explain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! All kudos and comments and greatly appreciated!!!


	6. Light My Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A scorching fire is put out by a surprised rain cloud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you for your patience with this chapter! I hope you like it lol

The Universe had a way of telling her things that Chaeyoung could never comprehend. One moment she was kind and generous, lighting her ablaze with the warmth of the Sun. Just as she felt herself grow fond of the fire against her skin, a cruel rain cloud would come along to douse the flames. Before, that rain cloud had been the loss of her parents, however today it took the form of Kim Jisoo.

Chaeyoung had just succumbed to the trails of fire that Lisa’s fingers left in their wake. She could feel the way her lungs burnt as Lisa quite literally took her breath away; everything burned so deliciously and she never wanted it to stop. A certain rain cloud seemed to have other plans though. All it took was a crash of thunder and the flame was gone, leaving Roseanne completely stunned and confused.

Until the moment the group’s rose would shed her last petal, she would be left to wonder how a raging fire could be easily extinguished by the turn of a doorknob and the sound of a late breakfast hitting the floor.

Roseanne watched with bated breath as Jisoo’s face contorted in confusion. The Australian decided to spare a glance at Lisa in search of any way to explain what the oldest girl had just walked in on. This, however, proved to be a mistake. Chaeyoung watched in awe as the girl’s arm flexed when she reached for the discarded hoodie. She tried to memorize the way her stomach tensed when she pulled the thick cotton over her body. Roseanne couldn’t help the sheepish smile she gave Lisa when she saw the girl once again swallowed by her own hoodie.

“Nono, you two are not going to continue eying each other like that after I walk in! Bad!” Jisoo scolded the girls with a stern hand on her hip. The two simply bowed in apology, an uncomfortable silence settling over the three.

Roseanne thought back to a few nights ago when she was sure Jennie’s glare was the most terrifying thing she’d ever seen. What Roseanne from a few nights ago had not been prepared for, was the deadly look in the eyes of one Kim Jisoo. The raven haired girl had her eyebrows knit firmly, her lips pressed into a disappointed line, and her eyes pointed with anger at the two girls.

“I promise we can explain-“

“I’m sure you can, Chaeyoung.” Jisoo spat her words with a lift of her eyebrow, almost daring the girls to explain what she had walked in on. Roseanne had decided that this was a dare she would happily sit out.

“We-Chaeyoung had something stuck in her teeth and I was helping her.” Roseanne’s head snapped over to the Thai girl. Lisa stood there with flushed cheeks and hands peeking out to play with her sleeves. Chaeyoung had to resist the urge to scoop the younger girl up into her arms and hold her tight. Jisoo, however, wasn’t the slightest bit impressed.

“That makes total sense! I forgot how normal it was to sit in someone’s lap half naked and suck the food out of their teeth. Food which your unnies so graciously delivered to you two not three minutes ago.” Jisoo pinched the bridge of her nose before she continued her scolding. Roseanne was feeling smaller by the minute.

“You two should know better. Not only are you roommates, but you’re also groupmates. It’s already hard enough that we’re in a brand new company with no recognition, but this will just make things harder. How could you be so unprofessional?”

Chaeyoung didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t even stopped to think about the other members. As much as it pained her to admit it, Jisoo was right. Chaeyoung was already preparing herself to fold in half and beg for forgiveness from the older girl, but was stopped when she heard Lisa let out a dry laugh.

“We’re the only ones being unprofessional?”

“Excuse me?”

“Come on, unnie. We share a wall. You’re very lucky that Rosie is a heavy sleeper or else she’d know what I’m talking about, too.” The roles seemed to shift as Jisoo became fidgety and nervous, Lisa opting to take a seat next to Chaeyoung on her bed. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Aw, come on, Jisoo-unnie. You can’t tell me that you’re already forgetting how  _ unprofessional  _ you and Jennie-unnie get after curfew.” Chaeyoung stifled a giggle as she saw the way that Jisoo paled. In her head, she did a small victory dance; she knew she had been right about them. Lisa looked as smug as ever as she lazily leaned back, braced by one of her arms behind her.

“Now tell me, I’d say that you two are far more unprofessional than me and Chaeng just were, yeah?”

“That’s completely different!”

“And how is that?”

“Because..” Jisoo looked at the pair with misty eyes, warm tears prickling the corners. Lisa’s expression completely softened as both girls rushed to wrap Jisoo up into an embrace. They had gone too far. Soon enough, Jisoo was crying heavily into the two younger members. Chaeyoung rubbed her back while Lisa whispered apologies into the top of her head. After an eternity, Jisoo’s breath finally evened, her stuttered sobs coming to a halt. She unwrapped herself from the comforting embrace and wiped her eyes one last time.

“It’s different because we’re soulmates.”

Chaeyoung had heard of soulmates before. Her mother used to say that soulmates were presents that Fate had prepared for her children, and if Fate deemed them worthy, they would be gifted with the person that was made for them. Most people didn’t meet their soulmates, and if they did they never realized it. This was another one of Fate’s cruelties; soulmates were only revealed when they fell in love.

Chaeyoung remembered how she would ask her mother over and over to tell her the story of how her and her father had found each other. She remembered how her mom’s smooth skin would crinkle as her lips broke into a full smile. She remembered how Alice would groan as her mother recited the words burned into her delicate forearm. Even now, after burying every memory of them deep into a locked room, Chaeyoung remembered the words. The words that her father spoke to her mother when he realized he loved her.

_ Are you laughing at me? _

“He had just spilled his cup of water all over your grandfather when he was meeting your grandparents for the first time,” Roseanne’s mom had explained for the umpteenth time, “I felt so bad, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing at him.” Chaeyoung could hear the melodic rise and fall of her mother’s laughter. It made her feel safe, at home even.

It only reminded Chaeyoung that Fate was cruel and nasty. No gift came without a price.

“Kim Jisoo! You dropped our burritos!” Chaeyoung was ripped from her reverie by Jennie bursting into the room with wet hair and pants that were far too long for her. Lisa, Roseanne and Jisoo all exchanged a glance, the three seeming to understand that none of them would say a word about what just happened.

“What’s wrong? You all look like you watched a car accident.” Chaeyoung flinched at that, but nonetheless managed somewhat of a giggle. She watched as Jisoo’s tense face softened into a smile as Jennie wrapped her arms around her waist in a firm back hug, leaning her chubby cheek on her shoulder. Lisa took initiative and dived for the bag of food at Jisoo’s feet.

“It’s nothing much, me and Chae just spooked her when she walked in and she dropped the food.” Lisa shrugged nonchalantly as she passed the wrapped food to the other three girls. Happily, the three ate and talked, Jennie blissfully unaware of what she was missing out on. Maybe that was for the best.

**•••**

As soon as the older girls retreated to their shared dorm, Chaeyoung raced to the shower with a stack of clothes. Hopefully she would be able to wash away her guilt in what she had done. How could she be so careless? Not only could it be disastrous for her career, she also had three other girls to worry about. Three girls who had become so important to her in less than two months. Three girls who she saw as her family. Well, maybe one of them not so much as family.

_ Lisa _ . Chaeyoung couldn’t get her out of her mind. Well, she couldn’t get her out of her mind more than usual. Chaeyoung had grown accustomed to the dancer running circles around her brain, but from the moment Jisoo said the word soulmate, something changed for her. Chaeyoung watched the way Lisa’s nose scrunched when she laughed and fell butterflies swell in her chest as she watched the girl clumsily let a small piece of egg fall from the wrapper. Sure, Chaeyoung wasn’t going to be stubborn and deny that she had a crush on Lisa, but something about the crush had changed. It felt like so much more. She wanted it to be so much more. She wanted Lisa to be there for her no matter the circumstances. She wanted to be there for her, too. She wanted to be with Lisa.

Chaeyoung stepped out of the steamed bathroom with a smile on her face, already happy to see her roommate. The smile was turned into a frown as she realized the dancer was nowhere to be seen. All that was left was a note declaring that she wouldn’t be back until very late and not to wait for her. Roseanne couldn’t help but feel disappointed as she flopped onto her bed, taking the soft chipmunk into her tight grasp.

Chaeyoung hadn’t recalled when she had fallen asleep, but her phone declaring it as 9:40pm told her that she most definitely had slept. Roseanne simply blamed it on the stress from their project. She looked around the room, hoping to see a bright smile or hear a snarky comment about her long nap, but no such luck.

She had really wanted to see Lisa, of course she wanted to talk about what had happened, but Chaeyoung would be content with completely sidestepping the topic if it meant hearing her favorite Thai’s voice. Roseanne felt herself give up hope on seeing Lisa for the rest of the night, until her memory finally threw her a bone.

Chaeyoung thought back to the dance practice, when she had tossed herself onto the floor and Lisa had made her way to their supervisor. 

Lisa was going to be at the dance studio in about twenty minutes. 

That was all the motivation Chaeyoung needed to slip on her shoes and grab her mask and hat to conceal her identity as she made her way from the dormitory. Before she left the room, the glint of the light hitting the smooth wood of her guitar caught her eye. She hadn’t had a chance to play since she started as a trainee, she figured if she would be intruding on her practice Lisa wouldn’t mind terribly if she brought her guitar. So she grabbed the instrument and hastily put it in its proper case, finally heading out from the dorm.

Chaeyoung had just caught the metro, in fact it was already almost leaving before she sprinted onto the bus. She gave an apologetic look to the operator as she scanned her card, generously gifted to her by AmalgaMedia. The bus was rather empty at this hour, which Roseanne was incredibly thankful for. She took her seat and remained silent and still until she heard the familiar hiss a screech of the brakes. 

Roseanne thanked the driver as she made her way off of the bus, eagerly shuffling her way to the studio’s entrance. She gave the woman at the desk a friendly wave when she passed her on her way into the elevator. Chaeyoung felt giddy as she rode the lift. It hadn’t been long whatsoever, but she did really want to see Lisa. She found herself replaying their moment in the elevator in her head once again, smiling as she remembered the way Lisa had, quite literally, run into her life.

When the elevator doors opened is when nerves set in for Chaeyoung. Maybe Lisa had purposefully left for the entire day? What if she realized that kissing Chaeyoung was a horrible mistake? Maybe Lisa hated her. Maybe Chaeyoung had completely misread every signal Lisa had given her. That would be cruel, wouldn’t it? For that fact alone, Chaeyoung believed it to be true for but a moment.

Park Chaeyoung was a lot of things, but as far as she was concerned, she was not a quitter. Besides, the next bus wouldn’t arrive for another hour. So she swallowed the nerves that settled uncomfortably in her throat, and made her way to studio B7.

As soon as the door opened, the overwhelming bass of the song Lisa was playing crashed into her ears. Chaeyoung recognized it as the song they had selected for their project, Lean On by Majer Lazer. Lisa hadn’t noticed the quiet click of Roseanne carefully closing the door to the dance studio. She hadn’t noticed Roseanne putting her guitar case down. She hadn’t even noticed the way Roseanne watched her in the mirror.

Chaeyoung was absolutely mesmerized by the way the girl moved her long legs, the way her body flowed like water. Lisa, at times, was like a steady creek, flowing gracefully against the rocks and enhancing everything around it. Then, like a switch, Lisa was the ocean itself. Her movements were powerful yet still so fluid and graceful. It was hard not to watch the way she moved. The ocean only noticed her admirer when the music ended and claps echoed in the room.

“Chaeyoung.” Lisa looked happy to see her, a goofy grin making its way to her face as she approached the girl. Lisa had, at some point, shed Roseanne’s hoodie and folded it in the corner of the room. A thin sheen of sweat covered her body and Chaeyoung found it impossibly attractive.

“May I join you?”

“Nothing would make me happier.”

The two run through the routine a few times, both of them soon realizing that they had it as perfected as they could without their unnies here to participate. Lisa laughed as Chaeyoung once again flopped onto the floor at their last attempt to meet Lisa’s standards. 

“Do you always flop on the floor like that?”

Chaeyoung threw her a glare as she heaved herself up to sit in front of the Thai girl, who had come to sit on the floor as well. “Shut up, you just had me do that at double speed! Twice!”

Lisa simply shrugged as she took a sip of her water bottle before handing it to Roseanne. “It’s the only way to get better. You have to test your limits to be the best.” Roseanne just nodded as she greedily drank from the bottle.

Chaeyoung wasn’t sure how it happened, but at some point Lisa had shuffled over and carefully picked up her guitar case and brought it to her, asking her to play her something. Now the two were sat with their backs pressed against the wall, guitar in Chaeyoung’s lap and Lisa’s head leaned on her shoulder.

She had already played a few simple melodies for Lisa, each time she finished Lisa would look at her like she had just plucked the moon from the sky and made her sing just for Lisa. Chaeyoung decided that if Lisa ever wanted the moon, she wouldn’t hesitate to pull it from the sky. 

Before she could realize what she was doing, Chaeyoung’s fingers began strumming another tune. As soon as she recognized it, Roseanne couldn’t fight the urge to sing along with the cords she played.

“Wise men say only fools rush in,”

Chaeyoung felt herself smile as she sang the lyrics. This was her mother’s favorite song. Her father had sang it for her on their first date, and ever since then it was her favorite. It felt right to be singing it to Lisa. 

“But I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Lisa swayed softly as Chaeyoung sang. Would it be so bad to be in love? Chaeyoung wasn’t sure.

“Shall I stay? Would it be a sin,”

Fate had never been kind to Chaeyoung. At a young age she knew Fate to be a cruel mother who brought misery to the innocent. Why would she suddenly change her mind about Chaeyoung?

“If I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Chaeyoung closed her eyes as she recalled the way her father’s deep voice had sounded when he sang. When she was younger, Chaeyoung used to cry quite a lot, and he would sing her this song whenever she felt down.

“Like a river flows surely to the sea,”

Chaeyoung remembered the way that her tears flowed freely in her mother’s arms when a boy at school had made fun of her. She remembered how she cradled her like she was the most delicate of glass as sang the song.

“Darlin’, so it goes, some things are meant to be.”

Chaeyoung remembered the way she screamed when the car spun out. She remembered the way she was sure that this was the end for her. She remembered how she clutched onto Alice’s hand when they had flipped. She remembered the song playing softly as the firemen pulled them free.

“Take my hand, take my whole life too.”

Chaeyoung remembered how she grew to hate this song. She remembered how she would cry whenever she heard it on a cheesy commercial, or how she would yell at Alice when she’d sing it under her breath. She remembered the way Fate had been so cruel to her.

“For I can’t help falling in love with you.”

Chaeyoung remembered that this was the first time she’d sang the song in years. 

“For I can’t help falling in love with you.”

And as she finished the last few cords and opened her eyes, she would play this song as many times as Lisa wanted if it meant she would look at her with eyes filled with adoration again.

Maybe Fate wasn’t completely bad. Maybe, just maybe, love wasn’t either.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you very much for reading! All kudos and comments are thoroughly appreciated. See you later :)


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